Caribbean Stud Strategy

How To Play Caribbean Stud Poker

If you get tired of playing traditional poker games against other players, then maybe you should try your luck against the dealer. Caribbean poker is a casino card game that lets you forget about going against other players and play against the dealer instead. It is a straight forward game that includes a progressive jackpot, one of the first casino card games to do so.

Caribbean Stud Poker Game

Caribbean poker is played around a blackjack style table with 7 players. It is played with a standard 52 card deck and consists of three wagers, the ante, the bet and the optional progressive jackpot bet. To start the round you must place an ante bet that is at least the minimum allowed bet at the table. You can also place an optional $1 bet in the progressive jackpot slot. Each player is dealt 5 cards consecutively all face down. The dealer is dealt 4 cards face down and one face up. Now you decide whether to stay in the game further or fold.

Caribbean Stud Poker Rules

The rules for Caribbean Stud poker are pretty straight forward. The best poker hand wins. There is only one slight twist. The better poker hand wins only when the dealer has a “qualifying” hand. This means that the dealer must have at least an Ace and a King in their hand before any payouts are awarded. If you decide to play your hand, you have to place a bet that is twice the size of your ante. If the dealer does not qualify and you did not fold, antes are paid even money and all other bets are returned.

This does not apply to the progressive jackpot. If the dealer does not qualify and you have one of the hands listed below you will still win the jackpot. If you have one of the jackpot qualifying hands AND the dealer qualifies AND your hand beats the dealers, you get both the jackpot win and the regular play win. If the dealer beats your qualifying hand, you lose all your bets but still get the jackpot money. The Caribbean Stud Progressive Jackpot payouts are:

A royal flush pays 100% of the jackpot

A straight flush pays 10% of the jackpot

Four of a kind pays $100

A full house pays $75

A flush pays $50

If the dealer has a minimum of an ace high hand with a king, then that constitutes a qualifying hand and in order to win, your hand must beat the dealers. If your hand beats the dealers then all antes are paid even money plus the following pay outs based on your poker hand:

1-to-1 on ace-king or one pair

2-to-1 on two pair

3-to-1 on three of a kind

4-to-1 on a straight

5-to-1 on a flush

7-to-1 on a full house

20-to-1 on four of a kind

50-to-1 on a straight flush

100-to-1 on a royal flush

Caribbean poker takes advantage of the 5 card stud poker style of play, which most people understand. With the progressive jackpot the payouts can be will into the 6 figure range.